Television credits are varied. His professional debut for the BBC was in 1997, in The Phoenix and the Carpet. In 2002, he played Dr Philip Gardener in Taggart, and in 2005 played both Ben Varcoe in Afterlife and Bruno in Casualty. In 2006 he appeared as Tommy in Channel 4’s The Trial of Tony Blair. 2007 saw him feature as Richard in Channel 4’s Britz, and as Ray Moore in The Bill. In 2009 he played DC Ben Holt as a series regular in Paradox, and in 2010 he returned to Taggart, but in a different role: DCI Atkins. After playing Finny, as a regular, in Psychoville Series 2, in 2011 he appeared in two episodes as Jimmy in Doctor Who, and played Ben Farrell in Twenty Twelve. 2012 has seen him appear in The Minor Character, Shetland, as Malcolm Christie in Silent Witness, Peter Adler in The Paradise, and Andy Marshall in Case Histories 2.

Bonnar’s professional career really kickstarted with a part in Howard Davies’ production of Chips with Everything at the Royal National Theatre (1997). The following year, he went on to play in Richard III at the National Studio, and in Flight and Antony & Cleopatra at the Royal National Theatre. In 1999 he appeared in Volpone and Tales from Ovid with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2000 and 2002 he worked with Michael Grandage at Sheffield Crucible Theatre, and in 2003 appeared in The Cherry Orchard with the Oxford Stage Company (directed by Dominic Dromgoole) and in Twelfth Night at the Manchester Royal Exchange (directed by Lucy Bailey).

2004 saw him appear at the Royal National Theatre in Cyrano De Bergerac, Salisbury Playhouse with Much Ado About Nothing, and Royal Court Theatre with A Girl in a Car with a Man. In 2005, he worked with Anna Mackmin on Mammals at the Bush and in 2007, after a return to the National and director Howard Davies for Philistines, made his debut at the Donmar Warehouse in Parade. In 2008 he performed in Lost Highway at the ENO and Young Vic, as Vershinin in Three Sisters at the Royal Exchange, and as Orsino in Grandage’s Twelfth Night, as part of the Donmar at Wyndhams scheme. 2009 and 2011 saw him return to the National, playing Aeneas in Dido Queen of Carthage and Trofimov in The Cherry Orchard, with a performance in Novecento in Donmar at the Trafalgar Studios in between. In 2011, he featured in Josie Rourke’s Sixty Six Books at the Bush Theatre, and in 2012 played Daniel de Bosola in Jamie Lloyd’s production of The Duchess of Malfi at The Old Vic.